Calhoun’s Can(n)ons,The Bay News, Morro Bay, CA

Crunch Time

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
Benjamin Franklin

Los Osos never ceases to amaze me. Sure, there seems to be about 40% of us bearish folk eternally asleep at the switch (non-voting, non-involved sideline sitters), even during the hubble-bubble of our ongoing Sewer Wars and the recent targeting of homeowners with the issuance of Cease and Desist Orders.(CDOs)

Of the remaining 60%, a certain number of people reacted to the targeting by encouraging people to support the dissolution of the CSD by falsely implying that The County will somehow protect us from the CDOs. That’s an amusing folly since the Regional Water Quality Control Board has officially denied that linkage. And while the CSD asked for and was granted designated status in order to stand with the community in the upcoming CDO hearings, The County was asked to do the same and their reply has been utter silence.

Then there were a certain number of folks who witnessed their friends and neighbors being targeted, knew they would be next, so they chose to come together to form SAFE (Solidarity Against Fines and Enforcement) in order to educate themselves as to what was involved with this RWQCB enforcement action and do what they could to help each other and themselves.

Rob Shipe was just such a self-described fence sitter. When it came to the sewer wars, he had stayed completely out of it. Until, that is, he received his CDO and suddenly understood that his fence had been abruptly removed. So he set to work researching, talking with the RWQCB staff, collaborating with the other Forty-Fivers, and working on outreach efforts to help the community understand the unintended consequences of the use of the CDO.

Among a few of the issues he discovered were these: The CDO is simply the wrong method applied to the wrong people for all the wrong reasons; the “group prosecution” methods being used by the RWQCB can’t help but trample individual rights and due process, thereby turning the upcoming hearings into a sham; the proposed CDO pumping scheme will remove 36 million gallons of water from our already seriously over-drafted watershed; the cost of pumping will remove millions of dollars from the community that won’t be available to actually build the new wastewater treatment system; and CDOs can lower property values and make property loans smaller and/or more difficult to get.

In addition to Rob, another group formed the “Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund” (PZLDF) at the Coast National Bank to raise enough donations to engage a legal firm to help protect the rights of The Los Osos 45 (and all the rest of us) early on in the game.

So many busy citizens volunteering their time to support their neighbors raises one question: Where’s everybody else? If you’re not one of the Los Osos 45, you will be, unless the community comes together to make the understandably frustrated, misinformed and angry, nose-out-of-joint RWQCB realize that what they have been lead to believe about this community’s commitment to clean water simply isn’t true, and that there are far better methods than this hastily thrown together mad pumping scheme to get where we all want to go – a sustainable wastewater project that seriously addresses our water overdraft problems.

And so, another question: What are you doing to help your friends and neighbors and yourselves? There are far better choices available than those the Regional Board is proposing in their April 28th hearing, but better choices require a community that gets off the fence and gets involved . . . now.

So, here’s a start: For CDO Information and volunteer outreach opportunities, call Rob Shipe at 528-6772 or email at (LosOsosCDO@Gmail.com). Legal fund contributions are accepted at Coast National Bank or mailed to PZLDF, PO Box 6095, Los Osos, CA 93412, or contact Bill Moylan at 528-2324 or email (mailto:bmoyland@charter.net). I’ve posted some of Rob’s research information and suggested courses of action at my blogsite listed below and as soon as enough volunteers come forward, tabling efforts can be set up to get expanded informational flyers into as many hands as possible.

What happens to Los Osos is firmly in our own hands. We can drive this train or simply lay on the tracks and get run over. It’s crunch time, the clock is ticking. And, here’s the ironic kicker: By helping The Los Osos 45 now, the due process rights you’ll be securing will be your own.



.

The Following from Rob Shipe is re-logged for those interested in gettng more information on the CDLOs. The ISSUES
Cease & Desist Order Information – Wrong Method
Misapplied according to Water Board Enforcement Procedures guidelines not illegally applied.
Strongest enforcement measure the Water Board has. These are not intended to be the first step in non-emergency cases.
Meant for major polluters, not residences with properly working septic tanks
Water Board wrongly believes that measures passed in 1983 constitute fair warning to individuals.
ALL residents, property owners, and businesses in Prohibition Zone will be prosecuted ASAP.

Cease & Desist Order Information – Effects of Pumping
1200-gallon average septic tanks in 5000 homes and businesses pumping six times per year means 36M gallons of water will be removed from our Upper Aquifer. Solids removed will reduce that total, but when tank is cleaned and re-pumped, that will increase water removed.
That water will no longer be available for Ag Exchange Program in new Los Osos Water Plan.
5,000 pumps every other month equal about 100 pumps per day, six days per week.
A conservative $300 per pump X six pumps per year X 5000 homes and businesses equals $9 Million Dollars per year that will be spend in Los Osos BEFORE we have a sewer, septic management plan or water plan. Over 27 million dollars through the end of 2009.
A missed pumping date, for any reason, can result in fines of $1000 per day until pumped.

Cease & Desist Order Information – Unintended Consequences
CDOs are attached to you and your property. They will lower property values and make property loans smaller and more difficult.
If you work within the Prohibition Zone including home based business, your company is subject to the CDO as well. It will make it difficult to do business with government entities.
It may not affect you or your company, but what about your neighbors.

Cease & Desist Order Information – Solutions
Water Board believes Los Osos residents have pulled the rug out of every previous sewer plan and will again. CSD will have their proposal ready for vote by the end of summer. Dissolution will mean Los Osos Residents have effectively stopped yet another sewer plan.
Since 1983, the Water Board mandated a Septic System Management Program, a Waste Water Treatment Facility and a Water Management Plan. NONE have been implemented.
Water Board is trying to wake up community to institute measures called for in 83-12 and 83-13.
Write to the Water Board and all elected officials supporting a Septic System Management Program instead of CDOs and pumping. It is a better alternative and will move us closer to full compliance. The CSD has been told they need state or county authority to implement program. They are currently working on other means of implementation.

We All Must Support Clean Water
Demand/ Support action from CSD board to move forward with a Septic System Management Program, a Waste Water Treatment Facility and a Water Management Plan. Not just a sewer.
Nitrates accumulate. They don’t just go away. They need to be treated or dissipated.
Educate yourself and others with facts. Resist repeating hearsay or rumor.
The community needs to support the end results: Clean Water.

Los Osos Needs To Move Forward
Community needs to stop CDOs and support the entire town.. Support your neighbors
We can control out future, we can not control our past. Forgive past opponents and join as allies.
There is no solution everyone will like, but there is a solution we can all live with. We need to work together and we need to compromise. Los Osos is more important than any of our opinions
EDUCATION INFORMATION
Sources to help you educate yourself

On Line sources of information.
Info on Cease & Desist Order and water documents: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast
Water Board’s Enforcement Policy: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/plnspols/docs/wqep.doc
California Water Code: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=wat&codebody=&hits=20
Information on Sea Water Intrusion: http://losososcsd.org/pdf/SWIntrusionFinalGrant.pdf
Information on Basin Plan/ Water Management: http://losososcsd.org/pdf/Julydraft.pdf
Information on LOCSD Wastewater Plan: http://losososcsd.org/wwp/index.html

LOCSD Committee Meetings – Everything Starts Here
Where you can get first hand information and updates on almost every topic.


EMERGENCY SERVICES ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW/Meetings held 3rd Tuesday PARKS AND RECREATION5 PM – CDF Station Meetings held 2nd ThursdayJulie Tacker – Board Liaison 7 PM – CSD Office
Chuck Cesena – Board Liaison
WASTEWATER COMMITTEE
Meeting held 1st & 3rd Tuesdays GRANTS/FUNDING
6:30 PM – CSD Office AD HOC COMMITTEE
John Fouche & Steve Senet– Board Liaisons Meetings held 2nd & 4th Tuesday
6:30pm – CSD OfficeFINANCE COMMITTEE Lisa Schicker – Board LiaisonMeetings held Mondays 5:30 PM – CSD Office OUTREACHSteve Senet – Board Liaison AD HOC COMMITTEE Meetings held TBD
WATER OPS/DRAINAGE Time – Location Meeting held 2nd Wednesday Julie Tacker – Board Liaison
6:30pm – CSD Office John Fouche – Board Liaison

Los Osos CSD Contact List

Lisa Schicker, President Julie Tacker, Director
528-3268 lisaschicker@charter.net 528-7242 windmilljt@sbcglobal.net

CDO Defense Contact List
Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund CDO Information Rob Shipe
Help CDO defendants obtain legal assistance 528-6772 LosOsosCDO@Gmail.com
Make donations accepted at Coast National Bank
Or mail to: PZLDF PZLDF President Bill Moylan
PO Box 6095 528-2324 bmoylan@charter.net
Los Osos, CA 93412
PZLDF Legal Liaison Alan Marytn
528-0229 a.r.martyn@worldnet.att.net

The following is a press release from the Los Osos CSD concerning the selection of a firm to update the Wastewater Report.


PRESS RELEASE:

On February 7, 2006 the District issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to prospective consultants for the preparation of a Wastewater Facilities Project Report Update. Ten potential consulting firms received information on the project. On March 3, 2006, three proposals were received for the project from the following firms:

· ABG Inc.
· Ripley Pacific Company
· Lombardo Associates, Inc.

Both the selection team of engineers and the Wastewater Committee provided recommendations for the Board’s consideration. The selection team recommended and the Board elected to negotiate with Ripley Pacific Company for the following key reasons:

· Strong regulatory and wastewater system experience in California, including large scale STEP experience.
· Familiarity with Los Osos wastewater project issues from previous reviews and analysis
· Strong agricultural exchange expertise

The Scope of Work and fee is to be negotiated by LOCSD Staff. The RFP included a broad scope that could require a substantial level of effort. The Board may decide to streamline the process to focus the Project Report Update on fewer treatment plant sites and project elements. For example, if the Board elects to analyze STEP/STEG, two treatment plant sites, and water management options, the consulting fees could be greatly reduced. The Board will vote on a final contract for consulting services at its April 6, 2006, Board meeting. The LOCSD has set an aggressive time table; the consultants will prepare draft recommendations for the community review this summer; with the final Updated Project Report due in August 2006.

The following is a press release sent from the newly formed, Prohibition Zone legal Defense Fund, to help Los Osos residents targeted by the RWQCB with CDOs. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 28, 2006 Contact: Rob Shipe: 528-7242 LosOsosCDO@Gmail.com or
Bill Moylan: 528-2324
bmoylan@charter.net

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND STARTED FOR TARGETED LOS OSOS RESIDENTS
The Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund (PZLDF) has been established at Coast National Bank in Los Osos. The fund was created to accept donations and help raise money for an attorney to represent Los Osos residents that have been targeted with Cease & Desist Orders (CDOs) from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). While the Community Services District has requested and received status as a "Designated Party" and will be an active participant in the April 28th hearing, the CSD is legally not allowed to offer legal help to individual citizens. For many of the targeted residents, paying an attorney to protect their individual rights is simply not an affordable option. For this reason, the PZLDF was formed to raise money from the whole community in order to help our friends, neighbors and ultimately ourselves by engaging the services of one law firm which will represent, not only the originally targeted 45 people, but ultimately everyone in the prohibition zone, since all of them are also targeted to receive CDO's as well.
Every resident and business within the prohibition zone will be prosecuted. It's critical that residents and businesses contribute whatever time and money they can before they become a target for prosecution. The RWQCB Prosecution Staff views the first wave of defendants as a test case. If they are successful, they intend to streamline the process for the remaining residents and businesses. PZLDF President Bill Moylan said, "The Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund will be used, if needed, to defend the homeowners as a group if we need to go to court to have the RWQCB back off from issuing CDO's. Cease and Desist Orders are extremely serious and injurious to anyone who gets one. If the RWQCB does what it has promised, every property owner in the Prohibition Zone will get one. This is why we need every one in Los Osos to contribute to this fund. If we do not have to use it, all moneys will be donated to the Low Income Assistance Fund or other charity that benefits Los Osos."Defendants and community volunteers have been assisting with research and document preparation for the April RWQCB administrative hearing and any later legal proceedings. Those that can not donate funds are requested to donate time in an effort to generate a considerable savings in research time needed by whatever law firm is ultimately hired.Defense research has unearthed serious "unintended consequences" of imposing CDOs on businesses and property owners. While these consequences were apparently not anticipated or intended by the Regional Board's Prosecution Staff, they nonetheless involve serious legal risks for targeted homeowners and businesses who are and will be prosecuted. This fund is intended to help those who may not be able to afford the legal help now, and to protect those who will be subject to prosecution later.
Residents and businesses within the prohibition zone that support The Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund now will be protecting their own interests before their time comes. Donations can be made to the Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund at Coast National Bank or by mail to:PZLDFPO Box 6095Los Osos, CA 93412
Unfortunately, donations are not tax deductible but they are greatly appreciated. For more information or to volunteer, you can contact PZLDF Vice President Rob Shipe at 528-6772 or send an e-mail to LosOsosCDO@gmail.com. Mr. Shipe added, "We are literally trying to protect the community. This isn't about law suits, it isn't about fighting. We are trying to negotiate with the Water Board to clean up the water in Los Osos and move us towards compliance with measures the Water Board passed in 1983. This prosecution will accomplish neither goal. We would rather work with them, than fight against them."

Question For the CSD Dissolvers

According to CSD Attorney, Julie Biggs, if the CSD is dissolved, then all ordinances passed by the CSD or ordinances/contracts/assessment taxes, etc. passed by the voters living within the CSD also go poof! including – now pay attention here – the CDF Fire Tax Ordinance, the one the community voted on not long ago, the one that gives the community a higher level of service for less cost than the previous fire contract offered.

Gone. If the now dissolved community wants to go back to whatever County Fire/emergency Plan was in place before the CSD was formed, will they get the same level of service for the same price? Or will it cost more?

If they want to hold another special election, that’ll cost about what? $20,000.

In perusing the various flyers being handed out by the group interested in dissolving the CSD, I don’t recall this matter being discussed at all. So, Taxpayers Watch, this inquiring mind wants to know.

Dang! I blinked and missed it!

I hate when that happens. The Tribune hurled a HUGE headline story (and an editorial brickbat) at the Los Osos CSD for not getting public documents out the door in a timely manner (same problem for 6 of 7 other cities checked as well, but that was another “unrelated” story), but when the CSD voted Thursday night to pick an engineering firm to update the Project Report (Translation: put together a sewer proposal for the voters to select), if it was covered, I must have blinked and missed it


Well, the CSD selected Ripley Pacific Company, after receiving proposals from three firms (Lombardo Associates, Inc, and Ripley were neck and neck; one preferred by the selection committee, the other preferred by the Wastewater Committee, but both highly praised, with ABG Wastewater Solutions, Inc. lauded for it’s “innovative” solutions [unspoken, but clear: It’s too late for innovative, 21st century solutions for this community. Such solutions could have been possibilities, but too many doors have been deliberately slammed shut at this point for the community to benefit from ABG’s ideas. Sad, but there you are.]


The target for Ripley Pacific is that vote-able plans will be completed sometime this summer, which means there’ll be a voter selection under Measure B, followed by the rubber hitting the road: a Prop. 218 type assessment vote so homeowners in the prohibition zone can put their money where their mouths are.


Major step forward in moving towards building a wastewater system and doggone, I didn’t see a mention of that in the Tribune. Like I said, I must have blinked. Dang.


Other News: On March 30, 7 pm. at the Community Center’s CSD meeting, Paul Hood of LAFCO is scheduled to be on hand to ‘splain how the dissolution process works. Right now, a LAFCO dissolution hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, June 15 at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in SLOTown. That should be a really interesting meeting since the Dissolvers will – I presume – have to submit evidence of their claims and the CSD will have to submit evidence to counter said claims. Should be fun: Dueling claims and then it’ll be up to LAFCO to decide which claims have merit and then decide, Oh, What To Do Next.


More cliffhangers, i.e. Normal for Sewerville.


Good News: Starting April 3 -7 is Clean Up Week here in Sewerville. Check with the CSD office for info and/or at the Mission Disposal office on Sunset Blvd. Basically, you get lots of FREE TRASH REMOVAL, above and beyond your usual can fee – which means Spring Cleaning big time. Plus, for a modest fee, you can arrive to have big items picked up. This is way cool for all that stuff you can’t recycle or drop off at various thrift stores for a second go-round or can’t figure out how to get to the landfill yourself. Great yearly event, so be sure to let your neighbors know. Nothing like spring cleaning, even for us Dogpatch Denizens. Our streets may be potholed, and we may not have a sewer yet, but there’s no need to keep those junker car parts in the weeds any longer. Not when those wonderful extra FREE pick ups are available starting April 3rd.

Survey Said! Over at www.sewerwatch.blogspot.com, Ron Crawford's cached the 2001 Los Osos CSD's $28,000 public opinion survey. If you wondered where the repeated "strongly held community value" was for putting a sewer plant in the middle of town, this was the survey that apparently was used to make that claim. Read the response numbers for people wanting, above all else, to have a park in the middle of town with a sewer plant attached, and decide for yourself if the price tag for this "strongly held community value" was known to YOU and if you were aware that this "strongly helde community value" was repeatedly used to shut down any careful look-see for a different type of sewer treatment plant "outside of town." & so forth.

Calling Paul Revere!

The following was sent by Rob Shipe, a Los Osos resident who’s volunteering his time and energy to SAFE to help his fellow Los Osos 45ers prepare for the upcoming April 28 CDO hearing. SAFE is planning on getting this and other information flyers out into the community by tabling at various spots. Or even have volunteers walk their neighborhoods to get the information flyers out to to their neighbors. Since the stated intention of the RWQCB is to target the entire prohibition zone, everyone in the community needs to get educated before the April 28th hearing. Volunteers wishing to help should contact Rob Shipe at LosOsosCDO#Gmail.com or by calling 528-6722.

ISSUES
Cease & Desist Order Information – Wrong Method
Misapplied according to Water Board Enforcement Procedures guidelines not illegally applied.
Strongest enforcement measure the Water Board has. These are not intended to be the first step in non-emergency cases.
Meant for major polluters, not residences with properly working septic tanks
Water Board wrongly believes that measures passed in 1983 constitute fair warning to individuals.
ALL residents, property owners, and businesses in Prohibition Zone will be prosecuted ASAP.

Cease & Desist Order Information – Effects of Pumping
1200-gallon average septic tanks in 5000 homes and businesses pumping six times per year means 36M gallons of water will be removed from our Upper Aquifer. Solids removed will reduce that total, but when tank is cleaned and re-pumped, that will increase water removed.
That water will no longer be available for Ag Exchange Program in new Los Osos Water Plan.
5,000 pumps every other month equal about 100 pumps per day, six days per week.
A conservative $300 per pump X six pumps per year X 5000 homes and businesses equals $9 Million Dollars per year that will be spend in Los Osos BEFORE we have a sewer, septic management plan or water plan. Over 27 million dollars through the end of 2009.
A missed pumping date, for any reason, can result in fines of $1000 per day until pumped.

Cease & Desist Order Information – Unintended Consequences
CDOs are attached to you and your property. They will lower property values and make property loans smaller and more difficult.
If you work within the Prohibition Zone including home based business, your company is subject to the CDO as well. It will make it difficult to do business with government entities.
It may not affect you or your company, but what about your neighbors.

Cease & Desist Order Information – Solutions
Water Board believes Los Osos residents have pulled the rug out of every previous sewer plan and will again. CSD will have their proposal ready for vote by the end of summer. Dissolution will mean Los Osos Residents have effectively stopped yet another sewer plan.
Since 1983, the Water Board mandated a Septic System Management Program, a Waste Water Treatment Facility and a Water Management Plan. NONE have been implemented.
Water Board is trying to wake up community to institute measures called for in 83-12 and 83-13.
Write to the Water Board and all elected officials supporting a Septic System Management Program instead of CDOs and pumping. It is a better alternative and will move us closer to full compliance. The CSD has been told they need state or county authority to implement program. They are currently working on other means of implementation.

We All Must Support Clean Water
Demand/ Support action from CSD board to move forward with a Septic System Management Program, a Waste Water Treatment Facility and a Water Management Plan. Not just a sewer.
Nitrates accumulate. They don’t just go away. They need to be treated or dissipated.
Educate yourself and others with facts. Resist repeating hearsay or rumor.
The community needs to support the end results: Clean Water.

Los Osos Needs To Move Forward
Community needs to stop CDOs and support the entire town.. Support your neighbors
We can control out future, we can not control our past. Forgive past opponents and join as allies.
There is no solution everyone will like, but there is a solution we can all live with. We need to work together and we need to compromise. Los Osos is more important than any of our opinions

EDUCATION INFORMATION
Sources to help you educate yourself

On Line sources of information.
Info on Cease & Desist Order and water documents: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast
Water Board’s Enforcement Policy: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/plnspols/docs/wqep.doc
California Water Code: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=wat&codebody=&hits=20
Information on Sea Water Intrusion: http://losososcsd.org/pdf/SWIntrusionFinalGrant.pdf
Information on Basin Plan/ Water Management: http://losososcsd.org/pdf/Julydraft.pdf
Information on LOCSD Wastewater Plan: http://losososcsd.org/wwp/index.html

LOCSD Committee Meetings – Everything Starts Here
Where you can get first hand information and updates on almost every topic.


EMERGENCY SERVICES ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW/Meetings held 3rd Tuesday PARKS AND RECREATION5 PM – CDF Station Meetings held 2nd ThursdayJulie Tacker – Board Liaison 7 PM – CSD Office
Chuck Cesena – Board Liaison
WASTEWATER COMMITTEE
Meeting held 1st & 3rd Tuesdays GRANTS/FUNDING
6:30 PM – CSD Office AD HOC COMMITTEE
John Fouche & Steve Senet– Board Liaisons Meetings held 2nd & 4th Tuesday
6:30pm – CSD OfficeFINANCE COMMITTEE Lisa Schicker – Board LiaisonMeetings held Mondays 5:30 PM – CSD Office OUTREACHSteve Senet – Board Liaison AD HOC COMMITTEE Meetings held TBD
WATER OPS/DRAINAGE Time – Location Meeting held 2nd Wednesday Julie Tacker – Board Liaison
6:30pm – CSD Office John Fouche – Board Liaison

Los Osos CSD Contact List

Lisa Schicker, President Julie Tacker, Director
528-3268 lisaschicker@charter.net 528-7242 windmmailto:windmilljt@sbcglobal.net

CDO Defense Contact List
Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund CDO Information Rob Shipe
Help CDO defendants obtain legal assistance 528-6772 LosOsosCDO@Gmail.com
Make donations accepted at Coast National Bank
Or mail to: PZLDF PZLDF President Bill Moylan
PO Box 6095 528-2324 bmoylan@charter.net
Los Osos, CA 93412
PZLDF Legal Liaison Alan Marytn
528-0229 a.r.mailto:a.r.martyn@worldnet.att.net

Wait, It Gets Worse. (see previous post)

If you’ve ever wondered if the editor of the Tribune, or at least the Editorial Page Editor of the Tribune, or whoever writes the Editorial “Boquets and Brickbats” editorials ever bothers to actually read the Tribune, then the answer has to be, uh, No.

I give you Exhibit A, the March 20th Bouquets and Brickbats. Absolutely ignoring or maybe not even reading, or utterly unaware of the Tribune’s March 19th headline story – “Six of the county’s seven cities don’t honor request for records that the law says they must,” the editor hurls a “stinkin’ brickbat” at Los Osos with this sub-hed: “Los Osos board falls short on disclosure.”

And in the story, there’s nary a mention about the other six of the seven cities which also fell short on disclosure. Nope, not a whisper, not a tittle, not a jot. Magically, it’s as if the March 19th story “Celebrating America’s Public Records Laws,” just disappeared into The Great Tribune Forgetting.

Mirable visu! Or caveat lector? Or maybe the Tribune's brickbat budget is getting mighty slim since they've been sold to McClatchy?

Tribune Writes Context Story, Los Osos Still Goes Missing!

In it’s March 19 “Second National Sunshine Week, Celebrating America’s Public Records Laws,” the Tribune headlined a quasi follow-up story on the previous one they’d run on the Los Osos CSD’s failure to follow state laws concerning getting public records requests out in the time required. The first story was, as usual, totally missing any context -- no notation that the CSD was, uh, beleaguered by some angry citizens attempting to break all their kneecaps, beset with citizen-sponsored lawsuits, and CSD sponsored lawsuits, and facing regime change, general mangers and office personnel put on leave until certain, uh, back-dated documents could be investigated, preparing agendas and paperwork for about a jillion public meetings, and so forth, that might explain (not excuse, but explain) this failure to get public records out in a timely manner.

Nor was there, in the original story, any attempt to compare the LOCSD’s failures with any other city, until a couple of days later, when this excellent story appeared. Headline, “CITIES HERE BALKING ON DOCUMENTS: Six of the county’s seven cities don’t honor requests for records that the law says they must.”

GOSH, you mean Los Osos isn’t alone? That six other cities, none of whom are going through the kind of turmoil and crushing paperwork problems Los Osos is, ALSO fail to comply with the state law? Well, Quel interesting. There was even a sidebar on a “list of the oldest [federal] pending requests” that have still not been filled, so clearly, this is something that’s very common.

And so I read through this whole new story to see if they’d refer back to the original Los Osos story, IN ORDER TO SET THAT STORY INTO CONTEXT and, naturally, that old horse went missing. Not a peep. Not a reference to Los Osos. Zip.

And so we’re left with the cart before the horse, then the cart shows up and the horse is gone missing. And that, of course is what “spin” is all about – separate cart and horse, lose horse. What “context” is all about is – connect cart, horse, traces, wheels, roadway and driver.

Good “watchdog” papers do the latter. The Tribune, alas, too often does the former.

Not known, now that Knight-Ridder has sold i’s holdings, whether the Trib’s new owners, the McClatchy News folks will bring a different editorial/journalistic ethos to the central coast. One can only hope.

Tribune Writes Coherent Story, News At 11!

Finally, the Tribune managed to focus on a story and get to the end of it without wandering off into the desert of muddlement and lost points. Hooray.


However, this still is the Tribune, so, of course, the story is missing some critical CONTEXT. I refer, of course, to the March 17 B-1 Headline, “Records act violations piling up,” which notes that Los Osos CSD board members “say that a staffing shortage makes it difficult to comply with state law” concerning getting public records into the public’s hands within the legally allowed time.

The story further notes that “activists who oppose the board, including officials recalled in an election last September, accuse the district of stonewalling.”

Hmmm, ya think it’s stonewalling or a staff overwhelmed by regime change, new board start-up requirements, staff time focused on about a gazillion public meetings, a week-long negotiation with State Officials with staff preparation time, staff changes, bookkeeping audits, staff members put on leave while the DA investigates weirdness on their watch, and, oh, did I forget to mention, staff time and lawyer’s time spent on lawsuits?

The Tribune states, “Recalled board member Gordon Hensley made 11 requests for documentation since the election, two of which he hasn’t received a response to, and nine of which were sent to the district’s lawyers, who, as in the other cases, have yet to respond. Hensley said he doesn’t care if the lack of response is politically motivated, only that the public cannot get information. [CSD President} Schicker said delay is because of a lack of staff.”

What went missing (Hey, this is the Trib, after all,) is the context that Gordon Hensley, as part of Taxpayers’ Watch, filed a lawsuit against the district before the newly elected CSD board had a chance to park their butts in their chairs. And of his 11 requests, 9 requests were sent to the lawyers. (This begs a question unasked: If you’re actively engaged in a lawsuit with a public entity and your document request relates directly to that lawsuit, can your request legally be treated differently than a routine request made by Joe Q. Public who want copies of last week’s agenda or something? In this case, 9 of Hensley’s request were sent to the lawyers, which makes me curious. The Trib story doesn’t ‘splain either the dates or the requests or the context. )

In a newly changed CSD, beleaguered by, oh, let’s say, lawsuits brought by YOU, it becomes humorous when YOU then complain that documents are delayed because the staff and attorneys are busy dealing with, oh, ummm, let me guess, here . . . oh, yes . . LAWSUITS!

That’s sort of like the piano player in the whorehouse shocked – shocked – that something untowards is going on upstairs.

Well, make no mistake, document delays are legal violations, even for a beleaguered CSD with staffing shortages. Happily, Karen Vega, the administrative secretary, has returned to work, so she should set the office to rights shortly. She had been put on leave pending a SLO District Attorney’s investigation as to how a certain contract came to be, uh, “backdated,” thereby raising the ugly specter of illegally falsified public records. Our local DA declined to pursue the matter, so the CSD is sending the case up to the State’s AG for a look-see, leaving us with the creepy possibility that the Case of the Back Dated Contract will turn into Freitas Redux.

On the other hand, our SLO District Attorney could legally pursue the Case Of The Public Records Act Violations. I’m sure that’s much more important than fully investigating the falsifying of public records and back-dating contracts. So, stay tuned.

And as for the Trib story, here’s the truly wonderful howler: “This is public information and needs to be given the utmost priority,” said The Tribune’s managing Editor Tad Weber. “We are seeking information to fulfill our watchdog role, and without that information we cannot adequately inform the citizens in Los Osos about the biggest controversy facing their town.”


. . . fulfill our watchdog role ?. . . . cannot adequately inform the citizens ?…. Oh, My ears and whiskers. Doncha just love it?

CDO Info

The following was written by Rob Shipe, who also wrote the piece I posted on 3/10, “Law of Unintended Consequences.” He is working with the SAFE group of targeted Los Osos 45 residents to prepare for the upcoming CDO hearings in April. I find his comments in the second paragraph under ‘Where We Are Now” particularly telling. Old, untrue tapes playing in the heads of the Regional Water Board members was what I witnessed during the Dec. ACL hearings. Old, untrue information being presented by the staff. That alone should get the attention of everyone in town since we’re ALL targeted by this same Board and Staff. GIGO can have profound implications to a community.

Where We Are And How We Got Here

Like most of our community, many of us have not paid a whole lot of attention to the “sewer” issues in Los Osos over the years. Our feeling was that we specifically elected individuals to handle this situation for us. Let them do their jobs. That however, is no longer our position. We are all recipients of the Water Boards attempt to issue Cease and Desist Orders to our community. Over the past month we have spent incredible hours studying ground water issues in Los Osos. We have read countless files from the Water Board, many reports from Cleath & Associates, as well as individual conversations with many who have lived on the front lines of this issue over the past twenty plus years, on all sides.



History
On September 16, 1983, The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (CC-RWQCB) adopted resolution 83-13 requiring the County of San Luis Obispo to build a sewer and a water management plan in Los Osos no later than November 1, 1988. The county moved very slowly towards these goals. By the late 90’s they had finally developed a plan to implement a sewer when and organization called “The Solutions Group” proposed local control of the sewer with a promise of “Better, Cheaper, Faster”. They envisioned a small facility; treating only the worst areas and this would allow them to accomplish their three stated goals. Unfortunately they were not able to meet those goals.



After many project changes, the community voted in a close decision to abandon the plan. A new group gained control of the CSD last year. Unlike their predecessors, they do not claim, better, cheaper, faster. They only claim better. In short, 22 year after the passage of 83-13, Los Osos still does not have a sewer or an adequate water management plan.



After the change in leadership, members and supporters of the previous CSD Board, wrote en mass to the Regional Water Board, asking them to punish our town; to punish us swiftly, forcefully and individually. The Water Board acted on this request on January 27th of this year by issuing Cease and Desist Orders to all of us. Whether by coincidence or intent, within a week of the Water Board’s actions, Taxpayers’ Watch began collecting signatures to dissolve the CSD. This group is founded and financed by the same people who pleaded for you and I to be punished.



Where We Are Now
Our CSD is working to address all the water needs in Los Osos. The “Sewer Plan” the CSD is embarking on, addresses sea water intrusion in our lower aquifer as well as the nitrate and high groundwater problems of our upper aquifer. This CSD is utilizing consulting engineers to determine the best solutions, appropriate location, and cost effective methods for addressing wastewater and managing water resources for the future. This is not about a specific location.


The Regional Water Board believes our town does not want a sewer. They believe the current CSD Board is simply trying to delay the issue. They believe, as our neighbors have claimed, that we need to be severely punished as individuals and as a community. They believe what people from this town have told them. They believe they are doing what is right.



We need to show the town does want a sewer. We need to ensure the current CSD is working diligently towards a new sewer. We need to demonstrate severe punishment is counter productive. We need to explain a moderate point of view. We need them to do what is right.



What You Can Do
First: Get Off The Bench. Many of us have been sitting on the sidelines. Right or wrong, the water board has placed us on the front lines in this issue. While we have been “cursed” with this task, we can turn it into a blessing for our community. We have now been given a voice above others in our town simply because our issue now is everyone’s issue eventually. We need to use this voice to bring our town together and to move this issue forward.



Second, Educate Yourself. Our voice will be most effective if we are able to have a solid understanding of the situation and come to a consensus amongst ourselves. Understand the water issues within the community. Some sources of information available on-line are:
General over view information including the Cease & Desist Order and a search engine for water documents: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast
Specific information regarding the following subjects:
Sea Water Intrusion: http://losososcsd.org/pdf/SWIntrusionFinalGrant.pdf
Basin Plan/ Water Management: http://losososcsd.org/pdf/Julydraft.pdf
LOCSD Waste water plan: http://losososcsd.org/wwp/index.html
Water Board’s Water Quality Enforcement Policy: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/plnspols/docs/wqep.doc
California Water Code: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=wat&codebody=&hits=20



Third, Build Your Own Defense. We are all in this together, but we are all punished individually. All documentation for your defense must be submitted by April 5th at 5:00 to the Regional Water Board. While the hearing itself my not be a fair hearing, the evidence you submit or attempt to submit now is what you will have if this case goes before a judge. Fill out the Individual Defense form. And use the items that best suit your own personal situation to build a personal defense. We are here to help you, but you have to help carry your own load.



Fourth, Help Bring the Community Together. There is a portion of our community, on both sides, that will never come to an agreement. We need to work with those, on both sides, that can and will work to bring unity. There are good people that love our town on both sides of the issues. We need to bring them together and create a unified community. In the end, our best defense will comprise three items. A Sewer for the Prohibition Zone, a Septic Management Program for the entire town, and a Water Management Program that effectively addresses nitrates, sea water intrusion, conservation and the economic concerns of our citizens. We need to build bridges within our community, the CSD and the various government entities (RWQCB, SLO County, SWRB…) that have jurisdiction over our town.
To quote Benjamin Franklin:

“We must all hang together,
or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Irony 101, Morro Bay versus Los Osos

I received the following email: I find it quite ironic that Los Osos was under a Time Schedule Order – enforced with threats from the RWQCB – that gave us less time than what’s being considered here for Morro Bay, to design, site and built an entire wastewater system. It was a TSO that former CDS General Manager Bruce Buel repeatedly testified, under oath, at the RWQCB’s ACL hearings was “unreasonable.” Los Osos citizens are now being targeted for a completely inappropriate CDO scheme for a project that failed, in part because of the RWQCB’s “unreasonable” time schedule. Go figure.

Dear Sierra Club e-alert subscriber,>> On March 24th, The same water board that brought the hammer down on Los > Osos for not building a sewer fast enough is proposing to give Morro Bay > and Cayucus nearly 10 YEARS to upgrade their jointly operated wastewater > treatment plant, after 30 years of failure to meet the minimum treatment > standards of the Clean Water Act.>> Not ten years to design and build a sewage plant and collection system. > Ten years to upgrade the level of treatment at the existing plant. Larger > California coastal communities with more complex water treatment issues > have managed to upgrade their sewage plants, on average, in three to five > years.>> THE WATER BOARD IS PROPOSING TO PERMIT ANOTHER DECADE OF DEGRADED WATER > QUALITY OFF THE CENTRAL COAST, PUTTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE MARINE > ECOSYSTEM AT RISK.>> The MB-Cayucos plant is pumping primary treated effluent -- one step up > from raw sewage -- into the ocean. Morro Bay and Cayucos have been > avoiding compliance with the federal Clean Water Act for 30 years by > virtue of a long series of waivers from the Act.>> There are only three such waivers left on the coast of California. Only > one is for a sewage outfall that is ground zero of a disease epicenter for > the threatened California sea otter: Morro Bay.>> The Morro Bay-Cayucos Sewage Treatment Plant> -MUST NOT receive another waiver> -MUST NOT get approval for a plant upgrade timeline 9.5 years long> -MUST complete the upgrade as fast as possible, as required by law.>> Read: "Morro Bay and Cayucos must not delay sewage clean-up" at> www.santalucia.sierraclub.org/SL/mar06>> And please come speak or be in support:>> Friday, March 24, 8:30 a.m.> Regional Water Quality Control Board> 895 Aerovista Place> San Luis Obispo>> Plan on taking the better part of the afternoon.>

Calhoun’s Can(n)ons
The Bay New, Morro Bay, CA
Spring

We do not see our hand in what happens, so we call certain events “melancholy accidents . . .”
Stanley Cavell


One sniff and there it is, the soft, sweet smell of spring. It’s cold and wet and raining and the dogs are hunched in their sweaters, hustling miserably along the cold breezeway from the yard, rushing to get back into the warm house, but there it is nonetheless: Spring.

Our California seasons may be subtle, but for me they’re as distinct as a bright line drawn in the sky, an invisible change that’s whispered in an instant; one day winter, the next, something soft appears, a touch, a smell, a brief breeze of temperature change, and suddenly the world has turned new once again. Somewhere, everywhere, the buds have ceased dreaming and are swelling out from the dark into the light. The earth sighs and its winter breath is gone.

It may be an odd world view, but such sudden soft beauty on the air only reminds me how precious few these Halcyon days are. According to all reputable scientists, our heedless refusal to think further than our nose, our unwillingness to owe the future anything, our decisions, made one by one, year by year, to know but not know, to know but not act, our continued failure of political and personal will to change our relentless addiction to non-renewable forms of energy, all of this has already set in motion a climate change that nothing, not a million Kyoto treaties, not a billion hybrid cars, not a trillion windmills can stop. What we have begun must now run its awful course, while leaving the fearsome price to be paid by those who come after us.

Today, the Greenland ice pack is disappearing at an alarming rate. Antarctica’s vast ice sheets are slipping away. The polar bears roaming the great wastes of the north may be gone within the lifetimes of our grandchildren. The polar caps now melting will not only raise the levels of the sea, but will shift the vast, globe-circling Gulf Stream, thereby changing weather patterns forever. Thus it begins: Flood, famine, hurricanes that will make Katrina look like a mere nor’easter, coastal cities gone, buried beneath the rising sea, vast migrations of millions of desperate people triggering wars for possession of arable land, potable water and access to vital resources.

Will our grandchildren and great grandchildren curse our names and die of pestilence carried north by fecund, ever evolving insects happy to inhabit a new land made warm and wet by our heedless actions? Those old enough to remember The Old Times, will grieve for what’s been lost, but the young will not care. Who now remembers the deep snows Kennewick Man knew, a walkable Bering Sea, the wooly mammoths? Who will be left to remember polar bears, cows, or cold dogs hunched in their sweaters? History is always an unaffordable luxury to the dying and so it will be forgotten or re-written as myth. The surviving young will adapt into a brave new world and will cease to care that that polar bears ever once roamed anywhere. Polar bears will be as remote and curious to them as pterodactyls are to us.

In the mass die-offs – of people and countless species – there will be new creatures brought forth. There always are. The strong, the smart, the adaptable will mutate and survive. The rest won’t. And the grief of their passing will be lost to the fierce winds. Mother Nature, Gaia, the Great Goddess Earth, doesn’t much care who or what comes forth from her fertile loins. Something will. Something always does.

Yet, even in our new world, there still will be seasons – the tilting of the earth’s axis will ensure that. A winterish time will be followed briefly by something softer, sweeter on the air. As it was, as it is, as it ever will be, world without end, the earth will abide. And perhaps, once again, in some far distant future, someone will pause of a morning to sniff the air and think, Ah, yes, Spring.

Job Opportunity!


Buried in a small snippet of the County Roundup in the March 12 Tribune, a tiny story that, for reasons that passeth understanding, didn’t make the front page:


“The District Attorney’s Office will not investigate a 1999 contract that the Los Osos Community Services District claims was potentially criminal because a statute of limitations has run out.


San Luis Obispo Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Brown said there is an exemption to the statute if the alleged problems were recently discovered, but this contract was known to the board for many years. [I presume he means the old CSD Board?)]


Brown added that while his office didn’t do a full investigation, the preliminary analysis of the contract ’found no fraudulent intent.’


In December, the services district alerted the district attorney to alleged irregularities in a contract between the district and Montgomery Watson Harza, the engineering firm that designed the town’s failed sewer project.


The district placed administrative secretary Karen Vega on leave in January, claiming there was “potential criminal liability in how she oversaw the contract. She returned to work last week.”


If you recall, the original issue was this: Former CSD manager signed a contract with Montgomery Watson Harza several weeks before he was hired and weeks before the (old) CSD voted to authorize the contract and payment or anything else. Naturally, being a Tribune story, I don’t think any members of the old board were interviewed to find out what they know about this. As for me, I figured that Mr. Buel had invented a time machine and accidentally set the dials wrong when he was signing the contract. And Vega wasn’t aware Buel was in a time machine, so assumed he’d already been hired and so was authorized to sign anything on behalf of the CSD. And as for the full board not even voting on it as an agenda item to authorize both the signature and spending, well, hell, why quibble bout little stuff like that. So long as they didn’t have any “fraudulent intent,” what’s wrong with shuffling around CSD procedures: Sign and Spend first, vote on it all much later. So much easier that way.


So, I can say that getting the DA’s approval that signing contracts without authorization is really good news for me! I’m gonna start up a new business: CONTRACTS-R-MOI! You want a contract for millions of dollars signed, come see me. For a modest fee, I’ll sign it. I will have no “fraudulent intent” in my heart – Hey, I’m just a nice lady helping out a friend – so whatever I’m signing won’t be illegal.


So, Ernie Dalidio, come on down! If the City refuses to sign that development deal with you, I will! It doesn’t matter that I’m not authorized by the city to sign a parking ticket, let along some kind of development deal worth millions. That minor little detail will only be a civil matter, so sue me after all the money’s been spent and the Target is built and the parking lots are in.


If you have any divorce settlements you want signed on behalf of your wife, bring ‘em in! You know, the kind where YOU get the house, the kids and the Porsche and your mistress gets the bank accounts and the vacation house in Boca Raton? Got any Wills & Estate matters from your rich Uncle Fred? Bring ‘em down. I’ll sign ‘em all.


None of us will go to jail for criminal fraud because the DA will never be able to find out by preliminary checking any “fraudulent intent.” We’ll just claim that we didn’t know we weren’t authorized by the city (or Uncle Fred) to sign anything. Who’s to know?


It’s the start of a new career. One more lucrative than writing this blog, that’s for sure.

Homework, for those of you with nothing to do of a rainy Saturday morning, go to www.sanluisobispo.com (the Trib's) site and download and read the two depositions by CSD interim Manager and CSD administrative services manager Pat McClenahan. Their depositions were part of the Trib's March 10 story. After reading it, see if you can tell me: Does anyone know how money gets tracked and accounted for in huge state/federal/local projects such as the Hideous Sewer Project? To say it's an amazing shell game of "accounting practices," and real bank accounts and "incrementalism," and hide the salami and who's on first is putting it mildly. According to Hyatt's 3/10 story, the district went from having $6.4 million down to having $250,000. So, what happened to the rest of the $4-plus million? The story doesn't make that clear and, so far as I can tell, neither do the depositions. Well, maybe the CSD's budget, due in a few weeks, will clarify the Trib's story? Stay tuned.

Law of Unintended Consequences The following is a letter recently read into the record at the March 9th CSD meeting by Rob Shipe, one of the Los Osos 46 CDO recipients. He brings up some important points that all people living in the prohibition zone of Los Osos should pay attention to. I found it telling that he notes that he discussed some of "these issues with the Water Board's prosecution staff and their response is they don't know and this is not their intent. " That remark alone should cause red flags to fly out of everyone's pockets and go down on the field. . . . didn't know and not their intent. As Rob notes, there will be a meeting March 13 of fellow CDO folks and for all interested parties (which includes most of Los Osos.) Dear Neighbor,
We are writing you regarding the proposed Cease and Desist Orders (CDOs). Like you, we are defendants in the Regional Water Board’s attempt to issue CDOs against individuals. We are residents of Los Osos, who love our town. We were not a part of any pro or anti-sewer group, or pro or anti CSD group. We have stayed on the sidelines in the past, but now, like you, we have been drafted into this situation with the CDOs.
In researching this issue, there are a several items we want to share with you regarding the proposed Cease and Desist Orders. CDOs are intended for businesses polluting our water, not residences using a septic tank. Even if you have no issues with pumping your septic tank every other month, there are other unintended consequences of accepting the CDO on you and your property.
We have spoken with local banks and mortgage brokers. Some lenders will not grant a loan against a property with a CDO. Of the one’s that will, the general consensus is that while they will normally loan up to 75% on a loan to value ratio, with a Cease and Desist Order on your property, they would most likely only approve a 40% loan to value ratio. In addition, appraisers believe that properties with a CDO attached will definitely see a drop in value. For example, a home with a $500,000 value would normally be able to borrow up to $375,000. With a CDO attached, the lender would only approve a $200,000 loan at the same value. However a 20% decrease in property value would further decrease that amount to $160,000. That will be $215,000 you will no longer be able to borrow against your home. [1]
The ability to get a loan will also affect a potential buyer's ability to purchase your property. Homeowner's who wish to sell will have to deal only with individuals who can afford to put 60% of the value as a down payment. This would effectively stifle demand and further lower your property value.
The State Water Code prohibits anyone with a CDO from entering into contracts valued over $5000, with the State. In the Water Board's random sampling of 50 Los Osos properties, no conventional businesses inside the prohibition zone were named as a defendant. However, there are many home based and small business owners that live within the Prohibition Zone. If these CDOs go into effect, this will threaten the livelihood of business owners in our community.
Having a CDO on your property puts you just one step away from fines up to $1000 a day, assessments, and other issues we have not yet discovered. You may not be concerned with these issues. You may not own your own business, you may not be interested in selling your home and you may not need to refinance -- now.
What about in the future? This Order, once placed, will remain in effect until the Water Board chooses to release it. Where will you, or your heirs, be at that time? Will you need to refinance to connect to the sewer? What about your neighbors? Do they own a business? What if they have to sell their home? Their potential profit will be decreased and your new neighbor will be purchasing undervalued land with large amounts of cash. We are only the first wave. Your neighbors will be next.
Our intention is not to scare you, but rather to inform you. We did not understand these consequences. Neither did the Water Board. We have addressed these issues with the Water Board's prosecution staff and their response is they don't know and this is not their intent.
The Water Board took this path because they wanted to wake up the community. We are now awake. Are you? We are committed to working with the Water Board and all others willing to clean up the water in Los Osos.
We are not trying to pick a fight, but we cannot continue to stand by the wayside. We believe there are better ways to address the concerns of the Water Board. According to their own Water Quality Enforcement Procedures, there are other avenues to achieve the same outcome without the unintended consequences of Cease and Desist Orders.
We are writing to inform you of these unintended consequences of a Cease and Desist Order placed on you and your property. Even if you agree to pump, you should make sure the Cease and Desist Order is not used as the method of enforcement. We are working to stop the Cease and Desist Orders unintended consequences on everyone’s behalf. We could use your help, even if it is only one more voice on April 28th saying that Cease and Desist Orders are not the way to enforce this. The CDO is a heavy-handed enforcement tool designed to punish businesses and governmental bodies, not individuals.
If you have any questions, we will be happy to try to answer them. Our contact info is below, or you can meet us at Sunnyside Elementary School, 880 Manzanita St., on Monday, March 13th at 7 pm. We are working with other Los Osos Residents in addressing these issues. We look forward to talking with you soon.
Sincerely,
________________________________ ________________________________Rob Shipe, CDO Defendant Tim Rochte, CDO Defendant
507 Highland Drive
Home office: 528-6772
robs@2xtreme.net



________________________________ ________________________________
Rhian Gulassa, CDO Defendant Jim Salio, CDO Defendant


[1] Before CDO After CDO Available Loan Amount
Home value $500,000 Pre CDO Value $500,000 Pre CDO $375,000
Pre CDO L:V x 75% Less value (20%) -$100,000 Post CDO -$160,000
Available $375,000 Post CDO Value $400,000 Equity no longer $215,000
Loan Amount Pre CDO Post CDO L:V x 40% available to borrow
Available $160,000
L:V = Loan to Value Loan Amount Post CDO

Anne’s article originally appeared in the March/April 2006 edition of HopeDance #55 (http://www.hopedance.org/) and is reprinted here with permission of the author.


Shirley Jackson Comes to Los Osos
by Anne R. Allen

In Los Osos, California, during the first week of February, a remarkable thing happened. The few rights left to us by the Bushist corporate oligarchs were revoked by a group of unelected local California bureaucrats.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) chose 50 random citizens to be punished — without charges, trials, or legal representation — not because of anything they have done or not done, or even who they voted for, but simply because of where they happen to live.

I believe this is called scapegoating. It would appear to have little to do with water quality and everything to do with terrorizing the population.

Given the turnout for last September’s surreal Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) recall election, and the closeness of the vote, these as yet unnamed citizens have a less-than 30% chance of having opposed the sewer and the RWQCB’s edicts. According to published statistics, they also have less than 5% chance of owning a leaking septic system. Perhaps they have, like me, already forked out the $4000 “prepayment” for the sewer, which has apparently evaporated.

Their only crime is residing in a town that has been torn apart for more than 30 years by controversy over funding for a much-needed sewer — controversy caused by lack of government oversight of developers over a generation ago.

But hey, these scapegoats were chosen by lottery, “to be fair.”

“The Lottery” is the title of a famous story by Shirley Jackson about a seemingly normal town where an annual lottery designates a random victim/scapegoat to be stoned to death. Critic Peter Kosenko said in his New Orleans Review article on Jackson, “The lottery functions to terrorize the village into accepting, in the name of democracy, the power on which its oppressive social order depends.”

Jackson’s story came to my mind (the part of it that wasn’t busy being terrorized) when I read the news of the RWQCB’s latest action in their ongoing battle with the new CSD board of Los Osos.

In his comments in the Tribune, the RWQCB’s executive officer Roger Briggs showed a lack of empathy that appears to border on the sociopathic. He seems to regard the residents of Los Osos as a monolithic entity with the sole objective of thwarting his power, rather than individual citizens who may or may not agree with the new CSD officers. He seems to believe that the actions of a few residents of Los Osos a generation ago are the fault of people who innocently bought or rented homes here in the years that followed.

Mr. Briggs and his board haven’t addressed the fact that if a county project has been a source of constant controversy for half a century, maybe the problem lies in the project, not the character flaws of people who move here. Although – wow — if previously good citizens morph into pro-pollution anarchist crazies just by moving to a place, I’d say there might be something more terrible in the water than a sewer could cure!


I have been out of the country for most of the last three years and did not support the recall, but after watching the RWQCB’s colossally disrespectful treatment of Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, I could see why Los Ososans felt bullied. After Mr. Blakeslee facilitated a compromise between the warring factions in September, the RWQCB reneged and told him, “It’s been fun wasting your time, dude, but the whole compromise thing was a lie. You lose.”


Our elected representative — the person who stands for you and me in what used to be a government of, by and for the people — was brushed off like so much trash by this organization that apparently answers to no authority higher than its own will.

And now, like the villagers in Shirley Jackson’s story, county residents show little compassion for the innocent victims of this out-of-control bureaurocracy. The new CSD board has so far offered no more comfort than to post a petition on their website and ask fellow citizens to donate to a private fund to help these folks who are about to be fined up to $1000 a DAY. But each of those fellow citizens knows he or she may be next.

The Los Osos mess is a bad one. The lack of oversight of development in the 1960s and 1970s created monstrous problems—from unpaved roads to a lack of public facilities. The solution will probably be as complicated as the problem. But terrorizing a town and pumping the 95% of septic tanks that function perfectly well won’t keep one bacterium out of anybody’s water supply.


Anne R. Allen lives part time in Los Osos and part time in northern England. She’s the author of two novels published in the UK: FOOD OF LOVE and THE BEST REVENGE (available at amazon.co.uk.) She writes the column, IN Her Own Write, for INkwell Newswatch, Toronto’s online writers’ zine, rated the #1 writer’s source on the web. Her short fiction currently appears online at Chick Flicks and Dispatch Litareview.

Correction & Update: Regarding my previous post, a correction/addition: The Tribune did indeed put the public information requests foot-dragging by the RWQCB for the CDO's Los Osos Fifty (now forty-six) on the front page. I stand corrected and thanks to Mr. X for the reminder. And, I need to clarify that my quarrel with this particular story is not with the reporter, but with the Tribune's long history of this kind of muddled reporting when it comes to all things Los Osos. I have spoken with a certain personage at the Tribune and understand the reason for so much muddlement (turnover of new reporters assigned to the Los Osos beat, the lack of historical memory, the sheer complexity of what goes on out here, etc.), so my quarrel is not with the reporter, but with his editor, who should know better. The reporter now stuck with the Hideous Los Osos Beat is one of the few who's actually really trying hard to do a "fair & balanced" job, under difficult conditions, at best. I doff my cap to him, but still reserve the right to smack his editors upside the head with a wet noodle when they don't do THEIR jobs.

FRONT PAGE!

Ah, my beloved Bangladesh By the Bay made the front page of the Tribune today, March 7. Big time front page headlines, “Osos CSD to pay for flood repair.” Woooo!

As is so often true with most Tribune stories, this one started out on its constantly mutating peregrination by appearing to be about (1) the CSD will pay the homeowners up front for damage to some homes caused “after contractors struck a water line while working on the agency’s now-defunct sewer project.,” (2) then get reimbursed from the insurance agency later, while (3) CSD General manager Blesky told the reporter that the insurance carrier told him they only received the claims report last week while (4) none of the insurance company reps could be reached for comment, which means the question of whether the insurance company was acting in a timely manner or the CSD reports were sent in late remains unanswered, which is O.K. because clearly this story is of such urgency and importance that it has to run before all the information is in.

Even though this “news” (authorize the CSD to pay the flooded out folks, then wrangle with the insurance companies later) was announced, if memory serves, several weeks ago at a CSD meeting.

But then, by the jump page – typical Trib – the story shifted focus and noted that even though the district received “most of the residents’ claims by the first week of January, it did not supply them to The Tribune until Monday, despite numerous requests.”

And there it was, the story within the story, the first real story, the story that should have made the front page headlines: TRIBUNE SNUBBED ON INFO REQUESTS, AGAIN! (Remember the RWQCB stonewalling the Trib’s request for info on the Los Osos Forty-Five targeted CDO citizens? Got ignored, got foot-dragged, finally got only a partial redacted list, waaaaay late, boo-hoo, in total Violation of the public Records Act & etc.!)

And, then, this: CSD lawyer Julie Hayward Biggs explaining that the delay “was because the district’s records were disorganized and they were ‘still looking for claim documents.’”

And, there, of course, is the second REAL story – records in a muddle, an internal audit, another request by citizens for the DA to investigate the CSD Boardmembers, a dissolution campaign going on, the CDO hearings coming up (the CSD signed on as a designated party), ongoing regular CSD business, unavoidable delays, avoidable delays, staffing problems, in short, a CSD staff under fire from so many guns – THAT story, the REAL story goes missing.

And once again, the reader is left to ramble into misleading headlines, then down the rabbit hole of text confusion and jump-page switcheroos – another typical Tribune moment!

Get me rewrite! Or at least an editor?

Read it Again and Weep. Hello, all you folks at the Coastal Commission, the State Water Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Tribune, the citizens of Los Osos. Please go over to Ron Crawfords www.sewerwatch.blogspot.com for a little refresher course in understanding how many fingers in this Hideous Sewer pie helped create the train wreck you're looking at today. And recall how many times former General Manager Bruce Buel said, under oath at the ACL hearing, that the Time Schedule Orders they were laboring under were "unreasonable." (Answer: Four times) And how many irresponsible little fingers are STILL screwing things up today. Failure to understand history usually results in Mo' Mess, Mo'Mess, Mo' Mess. So, read it and ponder.

Tree Man, Part Duh

The following email arrived from Joey Racano. The quasi-end game of his Tree Sitting Caper. Seems the tree he was sitting in wasn’t even on CSD property so he, uh, wasn’t trespassing . Oops. Arrest that tree for harboring an anti-Tri-W-sewer activist! Oh, wait, we can't. It was cut down in its prime! Call CSI!

~S.L.O. LAW!~ maps vindicate activist!


Before a packed San Luis Obispo courtroom, Judge Charles S. Crandel accepted a D.A. motion to have trespassing charges dismissed against activist Joey Racano for a July 7th, 2005 tree 'sit' in Los Osos, California.

"Your honor, due to new information, we move to dismiss the charges", said Deputy D.A. Nancy Fede.

"So moved", said Judge Crandel, "Mr. Racano, you're free to go".

"Thank you your honor", said I.

"And may I add that I am aware of your career accomplishments and it has been an honor to come before your bench" I said.

Judge Crandel, arguably the numero uno Clean Water Act lawyer in the world before being seated on the bench, was the lead lawyer for alaskan fisherman against Exxon, represented Earthcorps against San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and represented Ballona Wetlands Action Network against Playa Vista!

"Thank you" he modestly replied.

Also in attendance was world-famous activist Mandy Davis, fresh from war in Antarctica against the Japanese Whaling Fleet on board the Sea Shepherd Society's ship 'Farley Mowat', now back to rejoin the battle for Morro Bay Estuary!

Public Defender L. Anthony Lucero simplified the entire case by demanding official maps of the 'Tri-W' area, which showed -to the surprise of many- the tree in which I perched was not on Los Osos Community Services District property after all.

Last July, the former LOCSD held a phony 'groundbreaking' for a sewer plant that would have brought financial and environmental disaster upon the community of Los Osos. My tree-sit helped garner much-needed media attention to the issue.

The majority of that CSD were recalled in disgrace on Sept. 27th in a razor-thin election! Big fun!

The new CSD has now re-populated committees left intentionally vacant by the former CSD (so they could 'accept' a 135 Million Dollar bid for a 46 Million Dollar project by contractor friends) and, in spite of being attacked by a corrupt Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, are now putting sewer plans through a proper 'vetting' process.

In interviews today with THE BAY NEWS and NEW TIMES, I made clear my responsibility to activists, who must be allowed to exercise constitutional rights of free-speech without fear of incarceration.

Next: ~Litigate, SEWERGATE!~love, your pal Joey xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxooxoxo

Calhoun’s Can(n)ons, for March 1, 06, The Bay News, Morro Bay, CA

Medea in Sewerville

Ah, Euripedes knew a great story when he saw one: Medea marries Jason, he of the Golden Fleece, and does unspeakable things in order to further their ambitions. When Jason dumps her for another woman, in an act so fierce and appalling that it has come down to us through the ages as the epitome of savage, blind revenge, she murders their children. That’ll show him!

This tale came to mind when I read that Taxpayers’ Watch is now attempting to have the CSD dissolved. In a world of ironies, here is a supreme one: The group that wants the CSD dissolved includes many of the “Save The Dreamers” who wanted a sewer plant in the middle of their town, and they in turn are made up of many of the very people who were responsible for giving birth to the CSD in the first place in order to get the Faster! Better! Cheaper! Solutions Group’s $35 million sewer ponds in the middle of their town.

O.K., so it turned out the Solutions Group (but not the voters) knew before the CSD formation election the price wouldn’t be $35 million, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board had already indicated they wouldn’t approve the project, a birth is a birth. And now that the birth mothers have determined it’s time for a death, we have Medea in Sewerville!

And not just the Greeks are at work here. In this attempt at dissolution, do I smell the whiff of a tale of two cities? The Ancien Regime versus the Denizen of Dogpatch?

All communities are run by a cadre of Dauphins, dedicated citizens who care enough to volunteer on all the various advisory committees that actively decide the shape and fate of the community. These worthy, civic-minded people constitute an informal “shadow government,” a sort of Fifth Estate within our official democratic institutions. Their influence is enormous, but human nature being what it is, they often end up viewing themselves as the rightful heirs of governance, and the notion that governmental power derives from the people is often a profoundly annoying notion to them. Especially when the unwashed, unhorsed and unbooted vote to choose a different path from the one they have selected.

In the case of Sewerville, the Denizens of Dogpatch selected a new path and a new CSD Board majority. Instead of working within the official institution to counter that choice – put up a slate of Pro-Tri-W Sewer candidates for election in November, start a new Anti-Measure B initiative or start recall petitions of their own, and etc., the first choice made by the Dauphins was to privately email to beg the RWQCB to “fine the CSD out of existence” (that means you, dear and gentle reader), and then they moved to dissolve the entire system altogether.

Euripides, Dickens, and now the little kid who brings the football to a pick-up game and when his side loses takes the ball, the goalposts and everything else home, thus shutting down the entire game for everyone.

And ironies of ironies, the dissolution flyers falsely conflate dissolving the CSD with “safety” from the recent RWQCB’s Cease & Desist Orders, and with the County magically taking over and building a sewer at Tri-W. In fact, the RWQCB’s prosecution staff made it official: Dissolution will have NO effect on the CDO’s, and they have NO knowledge of ANY county plans anywhere for anything.

Meanwhile, the CSD has been granted Designated Status in the upcoming CDO hearings, which means they will be legally entering the hearings as an active participant – a mother hen able to spread her governmental wings to act both as point man and sheltering cover for her community of targeted chicks. If the CSD is dissolved, so is Mother Hen. And individual citizens will be on their own, left to the tender mercies of a county that views us all as unwanted “red-haired stepchildren.”

Faithless husbands, unhorsed, unbooted voters, the only guardian in town dissolved by conflation and lies, retribution engineered by Dauphins and sorceresses and little kids with their footballs who feel betrayed and set aside by too much democracy of the wrong sort.

So, it’s Off With Our Heads! Children and their smashed toys, Medea and her dead children, Dauphins and sans culottes, it’s an old, old story. The only question left is this: Should it be written this time as a tragedy, or comic farce?

A Short Breather

The Regional Water Quality Control Board has moved the Cease & Desist Order hearings from March 23-24 to the end of April, thereby giving another month to their victims – The Los Osos Forty-Six – to prepare for what may turn out to be a HUMONGOUS legal battle.

The extra time will be helpful because what few people may realize is that unless things are entered into the “record” during this RWQCB’s “administrative” proceedings, they likely can’t be brought into any subsequent legal proceeding. So, it’s critical to have time to prepare each individual case.

This becomes especially true since the sledge hammer the RWQCB has chosen to use (the CDOs) ultimately can involve people losing their homes and life savings. Serious stuff, indeed.

Which is why I suspect the RWQCB will run into a buzz-saw’s worth of serious, serious legal problems and challenges as this process moves forward. The seriousness of the CDO process is also why everyone in Los Osos had better pay attention and why any of the Los Osos Forty-Six who have not contacted the CSD to link up with their fellow victims had better do so immediately. There’s a lot of legal expertise out there, and procedural expertise that they can avail themselves of before the April hearing date.

If they think they can just wander into the hearing room and fling themselves on the “mercy” of the Board, they’ll be the perfect illustration that the man who represents himself before a court has a fool for a client. And they will pay dearly for such folly.

The irony to be found in what the RWQCB is attempting to do here – for the first time, I might add – is the fact that RWQCB has a great deal to lose, the most important item of which is their credibility. Right now, the way they’re proceeding does not give me confidence in their “science” or in their competency. And once that goes, everything else will come crashing down.

By way of one small example: At the Feb. “informational meeting” I asked the Technical Mr. Science Guys on the staff, since the CDO’s discuss “alternatives,” what are the discharge target numbers that some “alternative” system must hit in order to be in the ball park. I was told that that was a very good question, they didn’t have any target numbers, but that was certainly something they needed to think about and perhaps they could come up with those numbers.

One month away from a major administrative hearing involving serious, serious legal outcomes and they didn’t have target discharge numbers that some “alternative” system must meet. Didn’t have the numbers.

This indicates to me that these boys are winging this whole thing and will be making stuff up as they go along. Not good, when the taking of private property, savings and lives are at stake. Once credibility goes, it’s impossible to get it back. And lack of credibility carries an awful price when you’re under tough cross-examination in a court of law.

Meantime, if you’re one of the Los Osos Forty-Six and have not linked up with your fellow POWs, I would urge you to do so. The RWQCB has started a war with the citizens of this fair burg, a totally unnecessary war, so it will be up to each of us and the CSD to limit the “collateral damage” they intend to do to our friends and neighbors.